Building South Africa's innovation ecosystem

• Author: Catherine Jewell
• Position: Communications Division, WIPO
• Pages: 13-17

WIPO | MAGAZINE INNOVATION TR ENDS | p. 13

Building South Africa’s

I N NOVAT ION

ECOSYSTEM

South Afric a’s Council for Scientic a nd Industrial Resea rch (CSIR), a lead-

ing scient ic and tech nology rese arch, develop ment and imp lementa tion

organiza tion, is at t he forefron t of the count ry’s quest t o become a full y-

edged knowledge-based economy. WIPO Magazine recently met with

the CSIR’s Pres ident, Dr. Sib usiso Sibi si, to nd out mo re about the o rga-

nization’s ap proach to inn ovation and t he opport unities a nd challen ges it

faces in foste ring a cultu re of innovati on to deliver wi despread e conomic

and social benet.

The CSIR is a multidisciplin ary organization responsible for g enerating new knowledge,

applying existing knowledge, and developing and leveraging technologies to generate

positive socioeconomic impact in line with national priorities. “While we quite rightly

speak about innovation as a me ans of stimulating economic growth, our innovation

efforts must see k to improve the lives of all South African s,” Dr. Sibisi stresses. “We

have high levels of youth unemployment in S outh Africa and huge disparities in wea lth,

so we need to constantly think abou t how our innovation strategies can help address

these deep-rooted social p roblems,” he observes. “When I speak of innovation, I am

speaking not only of eco nomic growth but also of lif ting people out of poverty. I am

not just talking about set ting up a company that employs people, but about creatin g

an enabling environme nt where people use the innovatio n process to set up their

own companies.”

THE CSIR’S ROLE

The CSIR plays a key strategic role in shapin g the country’s research and develop -

ment (R&D) agenda. It places gre at emphasis on cataly zing the development of as

yet non-existent or nascent indu strial sectors to fully realize South Africa’s innovative

potential and achieve sustained economic growth. “Rather than short-term employ-

ment-creation projects, our role is to under take R&D and technology transfer that will

stimulate sustainable industrial activity and job creation in the longer term,” Dr. Sibisi

explains. In this respect, the CSIR is n ot necessaril y driven to maximize comme rcial

returns by licensing technolo gies offshore. Instead, it see ks to identify and develop

technologies with the potential to cre ate local enterprises, gene rate long-term em-

ployment and respond to loca l needs.

SERVING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INTERESTS

The organization see ks to address industrialization at every level, wor king with groups

at the grass roots as well as those in high-tech sp heres. For example, it is working

with small farmers to develo p the production of essential oils for the fragra nce industry

in France. “The kind of suppor t we are providing is, rst, to identif y the plants that

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By Catherine Jewell,

Communications Division, WIPO

Dr. Sibusiso Sibisi, P resident of South

Africa’s Counc il for Scientic and I ndustrial

Research (CSIR) is a me mber of the Advisor y

Board to the Globa l Innovation Inde x

co-publishe d by INSEAD a nd WIPO.

Photo: CSIR